


Gold And Silver

by amyfortuna



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/F, Fourth Age, Kissing, Post-Canon, Rivendell | Imladris, Sibling Incest, Twincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-10 08:25:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12295239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyfortuna/pseuds/amyfortuna
Summary: The twin daughters of Aragorn and Arwen, Glorel and Celebel, have a special bond that lasts all their lives and beyond.





	Gold And Silver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Wavesinger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Wavesinger/gifts).



**Fourth Age 32**

"It is no surprise to me that you have given me twins," Aragorn said, leaning lovingly over his wife's bed, as she held two babies to her breasts with a weary smile on her face. "But two daughters!"

"At least there will be no trouble telling them apart," Elladan said from across the room. 

"One head of silver, the other gold," Elrohir said from next to him, contemplatively. "Dear sister, what shall you name them?" 

Arwen gave the one with golden hair a kiss on the forehead. "She shall be Glorel," she breathed softly. She repeated the gesture on the one with a fine silvery fuzz all over her head. "And her sister shall be Celebel." 

"And fate shall lead them down the same road for the rest of their days," Elladan said, the words spilling from his lips almost unwittingly. 

Aragorn turned toward him, startled, and Arwen raised her head. "What mean you by that?" she said. 

Elladan shook his head. "I do not know."

* * *

**Fourth Age 48**

Glorel threw herself across Celebel's bed with a high-pitched, excited shriek. "I can't believe we are finally going North! I can't wait to see Imladris, and the palace on the lake! Eldarion says it's dull, all pine forests and hills, though." 

"I think HE'S dull," Celebel returned sharply. "I always wanted to visit Imladris. And meet Hobbits! Dad says we can't go inside their land, but surely we can meet some of them at one of the borderland inns? I can't wait to go!" 

"You'll have to leave Elboron behind," Glorel teased. 

Celebel laughed, shaking her head. "You know I only like his skill with horses!" She dropped down on the bed beside Glorel. "I would never leave you for any man, sister mine!"

Glorel reached over and took Celebel's hand. "Neither would I."

* * *

**Fourth Age 50**

"Hold your weapon up, Glorel!" Elrohir called, leaning back against the wooden fence to watch the girls spar. 

Celebel gave her sister a predatory smile, and lunged forward, striking hard and fast. Glorel leapt back, then countered the blow, laughing. Her golden hair, bound up for exercise, flashed in the sunlight, and Celebel was dazzled for a moment, but then recovered, and struck again. 

Arwen, her final pregnancy just beginning to show under her long gown, made her way out to where Elrohir stood at the edge of the arena, and settled down next to him, her arms folded over the fence. "They fight well together," she said. "Evenly matched." 

"They do," Elrohir said. He cast a quick glance at her. "I'm wondering how to tell you this, but there is no good way. Elladan and I, and grandfather too, have decided we will be sailing." 

Arwen's sudden gasp for breath, hastily suppressed, did not pass him by. "No! Not that soon," Elrohir quickly reassured her. "Within perhaps twenty years." He placed his hand over hers on the fence. "Imladris will need a caretaker -- or two -- one of these days, that is all." 

Arwen nodded. "I understand," she said with a sigh. "My girls."

"They won't be girls for very much longer," he said. "They will live long and full lives, and it's plain to see they love the Northlands in a way Eldarion does not. They are Dúnedain maidens, Aragorn's daughters with all of his Ranger heritage, for all they resemble our mother and grandmother." 

A smile crossed Arwen's face as she watched them continue to spar, swords striking together, neither one of them yet overpowering the other. "Very well," she said. "We will leave them here with you and Elladan for a year or two, once we depart for the South again. But they must not forget that they belong to Gondor too, nor will I have them miss their younger sibling's childhood altogether. Bring them back to Minas Tirith once their training is complete, and let them spend what years they may in the South." 

Elrohir leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "You are the best sister I have," he said with a grin. 

"I'm the only sister you have!" she responded, laughing; it was an old joke between them. They looked together over at the two girls just as Celebel finally disarmed her sister, and then dropped her own sword, lunging forward to claim an impulsive hug from Glorel. Their laughter echoed all over the training yard, and Arwen smiled to see it.

* * *

**Fourth Age 51**

"Glorel?" Celebel pushed at the door separating their rooms. 

"Come in," Glorel said drowsily, just audible over the sound of crashing thunder outside. "Don't stay out in the cold like that."

Celebel grinned and flung herself into her sister's bed, squirming underneath the covers all in a rush. Her sister was warm and smiling down at her as she cozily tucked herself all down her side. Training had been rough that day, and the weather consistently bad. It was no ill thing to need her twin's presence by her side during the night, she told herself. And if there was a certain delightful undercurrent of tension running all through her body, turning her limbs to water and her mouth to a desert whenever she pressed herself up against Glorel, well, it was a price worth paying.

* * *

**Fourth Age 52**

"Shhh," Glorel said softly, pressing close to Celebel. They were deep in the wilds, on their first journey alone to see how well they coped with travelling not as princesses but Rangers, not as young women, but as warriors. They knew there was a risk of goblins in the hills to the north, and yet, there they went. 

Celebel wrapped an arm around Glorel and they clung close together, high in a tree. Dark clothes and hoods concealed them from the Orcs marching far below. They'd heard the shouts and the ringing mail from some distance away. Glorel had been the one to make the decision not to fight at this time, a choice which Celebel was relieved to see was the right one, for the force marching below was far too strong. 

"We'll have to get ahead of them somehow, if they're marching on Imladris," Celebel whispered back. "Do you think we could climb from tree to tree?" 

"Yes," Glorel breathed. She pulled a length of hithlain rope from her pack, tying one end around Celebel's waist and the other to the far end of the branch where they sat. "You are the better climber, so you swing yourself across, and I will follow." 

Celebel shot her a sharp, bright smile. "Kiss for luck?" she said jokingly, and was taken aback when Glorel's hands cupped her face, and her sister gave her a lingering kiss, warm and inviting. Celebel felt all aflame, and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to impress and protect her twin. "Watch this."

The jump from one tree to the next was perfect, and Glorel came across swiftly, using the rope to steady herself. Once they were both across, Celebel gave the rope a sharp tug and it released the knot she'd made. 

"We'll get back first," Celebel said, suddenly utterly confident. "We just need to warn Elladan." 

"Once we get down to the grasslands, we'll have to run," Glorel said. "They won't be far behind." 

Celebel leaped soundlessly to another tree, and together they climbed through the forest, at first falling behind the orcs, then as they got into their stride, passing them by in utter silence, and finally pulling ahead. 

At the edge of the forest, Celebel dropped down from the last tree, and extended a hand to her sister. "Now we run!" she whispered. Still holding hands, they ducked down to hide beneath the long grasses, and passed like a quiver of wind over the meadow. 

Just before they slipped over the edge of the valley down into the safety of Rivendell, Glorel looked back, and her eyes widened as she saw the Orcs catch a glimpse of her. Before she could move or even warn her sister, a pair of horses leaped over their heads, and their uncles sped toward the Orc-band, shouting their loud battle cries. 

With a gasp, Glorel pulled at Celebel's hand. "Come, we must help them! Bow at the ready!" Moving as one, they crouched down in a small dell, and shot tirelessly. At one point Celebel's arrow caught an Orc who was sneaking up behind Elladan, and at another, Glorel shot the shoulder of one who was near to overpowering Elrohir. 

When all the Orcs lay dead, the girls emerged from their hiding place to cheers and congratulations from their uncles. 

Back in Imladris that evening, they were greeted as heroes, their cunning and caution praised to the skies. The feast that evening was full of laughter, and Lindir composed an off-the-cuff ballad of their deeds, singing it comically to much mirth. 

Late that evening, they walked together out into the gardens, looking up at the stars, arm-in-arm. They were too excited to sleep, and Glorel's mind was full of hope and expectation for the future. 

They stopped beside a low bench, and Glorel drew her sister down to sit with her. 

"What is it?" Celebel asked, after watching Glorel fidget with her hands in her lap for a nervous moment. 

"I want to stay here in Imladris forever," Glorel said all in a rush, "but only if you want to, with me." 

Celebel laughed, seizing Glorel's hands in her own. "Imladris, or wherever you are, is my home. Don't you know that by now? Not even death will separate us." She leaned forward, and as if sealing the deal, pressed her lips to Glorel's. 

Glorel responded, and without conscious thought the kiss grew deeper, longer, as neither of them wanted to let go or stop. After a long moment, they drew back from one another, staring into each other's eyes. 

"Will you come to bed with me?" Celebel whispered the words almost under her breath, and Glorel nodded. Slowly they made their way into the house and to their suite of rooms, as if in a daze. Every few minutes they would catch each other staring in wonder, and laugh. 

By common consent, they went to Celebel's room, and undressed in haste. There was little mystery for them in this -- they had seen each other naked a thousand times already. But sliding naked into bed together, their limbs entwining, their arms around each other, their lips meeting again and again, was the start of a whole different and wonderful tale. Glorel caressed her sister, sliding her hands over her breasts, pinching a nipple between thumb and forefinger just to hear Celebel cry out. 

Celebel retaliated with a bite to Glorel's neck, leaving the imprints of her teeth at her sister's throat. She slid her hands down Glorel's back to cup her buttocks, pushing her thigh between Glorel's knees to press against her. Glorel made a desperate, keening sound, and together they moved into a perfect rhythm, their bodies rising to surge against each other, time and again, until like waves they broke over each other, subsiding warmly into each other's arms.

* * *

**Fourth Age 54**

Little Gilraen tumbled about on the carpet, laughing as she played with her dolls in the warm sunlight. If Eldarion was the picture of Arwen in male form, and Glorel was very like to her great-grandmother Galadriel, while Celebel shared much with her mother's mother Celebrían, then Gilraen was her father's mother as she must have been when young, with dark brown hair and dark eyes that turned from serious thought to laughter in an instant. 

Arwen sat with Glorel, her eyes half turned toward her youngest daughter, and half toward her golden oldest. Ever since their return from Imladris to Minas Tirith the year before, the twins had been all but inseparable, even more so than before. They were quietly, fiercely intimate, taking no one into their confidence, and had a new gravity and sense of purpose about them. 

"Your heart is no longer in Gondor, is it?" Arwen asked softly. 

Glorel looked up from her sewing. "Oh, Mother!" she said, "I loved Imladris and would fain be there, but I will be happy anywhere that I am, so long as my sister is with me." 

"You did not fall in love with any of the Dúnedain, did you?" Arwen said, and even as she spoke, smiled at the way Glorel's face went straight to merriment at the very notion. 

"No!" Glorel said, laughing. "I love no one now that I did not already love, and I love no man enough to marry him." 

"What about Celebel? Where does her heart lie?" Arwen turned the banner she was stitching on its side to continue the hem, and missed the fierce look that crossed Glorel's face for a swift instant. 

"With none but excitement and adventure in my company, Mother," she said. "It is true that we would like to spend our days in the Northlands as the caretakers of Imladris once our uncles sail Oversea. But we will be led by you and by Father in this." 

"Imladris was the home of our youth, you well know," Arwen murmured. "There we both spent our childhood. It was a refuge for our weary hearts as well as our bodies. It can be a refuge still, for those who need a homely place to dwell -- for Elves and Men, and all who value the stories of other days. The two of you can give it life and joy, even in its fading days."

"When the time is right, then, we will go back," Glorel said, her eyes shining.

* * *

**Fourth Age 68**

"This will be our last visit, sister," Elrohir said, not long after the first welcoming embraces had been exchanged. "It is as I said, we will sail soon, and grandfather with us." 

"We come in part to see if Imladris will have caretakers after we go," Elladan said, smiling at the way Celebel's face lit up, and Glorel's eyes went wide. 

"We've kept in training," Glorel said, taking hold of her sister's hand, "and would love nothing more than to return with you." 

Several weeks went by as Elladan and Elrohir lingered in Gondor, going hunting with Eldarion and Aragorn, teaching sixteen-year-old Gilraen how to ride a horse, and helping Glorel and Celebel prepare for their new life in Imladris. 

Two nights before they were due to leave, a grand ball was held in honour of Arwen's brothers. During one of the last dances, as everyone was growing weary or drunk, Glorel and Celebel took to the floor together, spinning each other around, laughing at the shocked faces of the matrons their own age. It was long established that these two would never marry, and some part of Glorel delighted in flaunting, for a moment, her closeness with her sister in the eyes of the whole world, just before she left it behind.

* * *

**Fourth Age 71**

Imladris was dark and quiet under the winter moon, and Glorel wrapped her arms around Celebel, soaking in her warmth through the fur coats they both wore. Elladan and Elrohir, along with Celeborn and many of the remaining Elves, had sailed a few months before, leaving the twins in charge of the Valley. 

It was a place of refuge, now with more Men than Elves living there, a small village at the foot of the Misty Mountains, where all folk of goodwill were welcome. The occasional passing party of dwarves stayed there, and every once in a while a hobbit party would venture out, now that the roads were more or less safe, and spend some time in the Last Homely House. 

"It's going to rain," Glorel whispered against Celebel's hair, the silver strands stirring in the rising wind. 

"Perfect," Celebel answered. "Come to bed, dearest." She stepped back, holding out her hand. 

Glorel took it, and they walked in silence to the large rooms they had claimed for their own, which long years before had belonged to Elrond and Celebrían. No one thought it odd that the sisters shared a room, for the Men who dwelt in the Valley saw them as Elvish and mysterious in their ways, and the Elves who still remained in Imladris thought nothing untoward of it.

* * *

**Fourth Age 120**

The messenger climbed up the steps to the door of the Last Homely House and knocked twice before it opened. Glorel, her hair fading from its brilliant gold to a paler colour now, greeted him, and invited him in. 

Once she had called Celebel, the messenger gave his news. "The King your father asks for your return to Minas Tirith. He says that his time is nearly come, and that he would look upon the faces of all his children once more before he departs from this world."

Tears sprang into Glorel's eyes, and she reached out for her sister, who likewise was weeping, and wrapped her arms around her. "We will go as soon as we may," she told the messenger. 

A hurried journey later, they arrived in Minas Tirith to be greeted by their brother and sister in sober dress. "Mother will not leave Father's side," Eldarion said. 

"She grieves him already, though he lives yet," Gilraen added. 

Hand-in-hand, Glorel and Celebel followed behind Eldarion to where Aragorn, the great King of Gondor and Arnor, lay in state. Arwen stood by his side, her hand in his, and her tears flowed like they would never end. 

A quiet whispered farewell, a few scant words, too few to encompass a lifetime, passed between Glorel, Celebel, and Aragorn, and then it was over. They were ushered away, leaving the King and Queen alone together once more. 

After a time, Arwen emerged from the cold Houses of the Dead, and the light in her eyes was gone. She bade them farewell, kissing them each in turn, and spoke a low word to Eldarion, and then left, walking with slow inexorable steps out of the city and away across the fields to the north. 

When the days of mourning for the death of the King and the loss of the Queen were over, and Eldarion sat upon the throne in his father's place, his own Queen by his side, and his young children playing happily once more, Glorel and Celebel left the city too, and returned home to Imladris, there to spend the remainder of their days.

* * *

**Fourth Age 198**

"Our time is over," Glorel said to her sister one morning in early spring, as they lay in bed together, wrapped in each other's arms. "Are you not weary?"

"I am," Celebel said. "I have been waiting for you." She pressed a kiss to Glorel's lips, slow and soft. "As I told you long ago, not even death will separate us." 

Glorel gave her a final sunlit smile. "Then beyond the circles of the world let us go. Are you ready for another adventure?"


End file.
